#HECO to install #flywheel energy storage system in West #Oahu

Hawaiian Electric on Thursday said it started installing a flywheel energy storage system at its Campbell Industrial Park generating station in West Oahu to test the device’s capabilities.

The flywheel system, created by California-based Amber Kinetics, is expected to be in operation at the beginning of next year. The 8-kilowatt, 32-kilowatt-hour system will be capable of charging and discharging electricity for multiple duty cycles per day with no loss of capacity over a 20-year-plus service life, according to a joint statement.

“Energy storage is essential to reach our 100‐percent renewable energy goals by taking advantage of Hawaii’s abundant but variable solar and wind energy,” Colton Ching, Hawaiian Electric senior vice president for planning and technology, said in a statement. “We are very enthusiastic to work with Amber Kinetics to evaluate this very promising flywheel energy storage system.”

The pilot project is jointly funded by Hawaiian Electric and Elemental Excelerator. The Honolulu-based startup accelerator selected Amber Kinetics to its portfolio in 2013.

According to the statement, Amber Kinetics managed to created the world’s first commercially available four-hour flywheel system. Its technology extends the duration and efficiency of flywheels from minutes to hours.